Didn't see that coming
by julyjules
Summary: Harry's away, Ron's on her nerves, who's there to talk to? Fred. Well, what's fun about that? HGFW
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Are you sure love, because this Convention lasts the full six weeks and being all the way over in Thailand, it'd be hard to get a quick flight back over here if there was something-"

"Yes Mum, really, I _am _staying at Ron's all summer. I need to because… well I think it's best that Harry has everyone around him at the moment."

It was the third day of the summer holidays after Hermione, Ron and Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts, and after exchanging numerous letters with Ron concerning the matter, they had both decided, along with the rest of the Weasley family, that Harry should spend the summer at the Burrow to take his mind off Sirius and, of course being one of Harry's best friends, Hermione wanted to go too.

"Well do take care, because like your mother said, if something were to happen we wouldn't be back over here like shot being all the way in Thailand," said Mr Granger, ruffling Hermione's hair affectionately which is something that she couldn't stand as she knew it was already abnormally bushy, as Pansy Parkinson would always gladly remind her. "We haven't got any of this fancy Loo Dust that you and your friends throw into fireplaces and go spinning off to goodness knows where, and we can't .. what is it? Appelgate ..?"

"Dad, _seriously, _you won't need to come back over here until six weeks time because I'll be fine and I can take care of myself." Hermione gave both of her parents a hug before heaving her trunk into the fireplace and getting in after it, holding Crookshanks tightly against her. "And this is Floo Powder, Dad," she added, shaking a fistful at her father. "Not Loo Dust! See you! THE BURROW!" She could just make out her mother's anxious shriek at the sight of green flames engulfing her daughter and her father's call of farewell before her head started spinning uncontrollably, and before she knew it she had tumbled rather ungracefully over her trunk onto the cold stone floor bringing an extremely irritated Crookshanks with her, and was looking up into the concerned yet bright eyes of Mrs Weasley.

"Hermione dear! How wonderful to see you! Oh just look at you, deary me, I really should get one of the boys to give that fireplace a good old sweep and scrub at some point this summer; there's dust all over you!" Mrs Weasley was frantically brushing down Hermione's clothes and hair, attempting to remove the coating of grey powder that made her look like a moldy iced sugar fairy, while Hermione clambered to her feet and Crookshanks went into a sneezing fit.

"Hermione!" Ron came rushing through the kitchen door and embraced his friend in a rather more forceful hug than she had anticipated, causing her to stumble again over her luggage.

"Goodness Ron, I saw you three days ago, after spending a whole year together!" Hermione laughed.

"Yeah well …" Ron muttered, his ears glowing the colour of his jumper. (Maroon, naturally.)

"He just can't live without you, Hermione!"

"Yeah, he's been pining for you for the last 72 hours – it's a relief that you're here finally to keep him satisfied."

Now it was Hermione's turn to blush crimson as two identically mocking voices came from the hallway, followed by two tall red-headed figures.

"Aha, you two, you can clean out this wretched fireplace for me can't you? Only it's in an awful mess …" Mrs Weasley jumped at the sight of the twins entering the kitchen. They had both presumably been shut up in their room all day as they were lazily stretching their limbs and squinting at the light pouring in through the open windows as they came into the room. As they made to sit down at the table they both roughly patted Hermione on the back as a way of welcome as they passed her.

"So when does Harry get here? I was thinking maybe he could test out some of our new Pooping Pies before we officially put them on the-" Fred began.

"NO! You are NOT to bother Harry with your silly little joke things this holiday! He is ABSOLUTELY DISTRAUGHT about Sirius and we are here to care for him and listen to him. How could you be so insensitive at a time like this!" Mrs Weasley snapped, turning on the twins, the colour in her face rising, resembling the colour of Ron's and Hermione's a few minutes ago.

"Look Mum, Harry's a top bloke, and we're not trying to be insensitive, but having a laugh will take his mind off things surely?" said George, defending his twin.

Mrs Weasley eyed them suspiciously.

"ONLY if he wants to then. You are NOT to go forcing things on him when he's in this fragile state, do I make myself clear?" Mrs Weasley pointed her finger at both of the twin's noses in turn.

"As mud," they chorused.

Just as Mrs Weasley gave a satisfied nod and was about to help Ron with Hermione's luggage, Mr Weasley entered the kitchen through the back door.

"Ah Hermione, good to see you! Alright Molly dear? Alright boys?" He puffed, as he was apparently rather out of breath and seemed slightly agitated.

"Hello Arthur, what is it? Are you ill?" Mrs Weasley approached her husband and held the back of her hand to his forehead.

"No, no certainly not, I'm as fit as a fiddle. But I'm afraid I've just had some news from Dumbledore, about Harry-"

"What? What is it? What's happened? Is it to do with You-Know-Who? Oh my goodness, my dear Harry!" Mrs Weasley's face had turned paper white as oppose to the scarlet it was earlier, and she had leapt up to quiz her husband,trembling with fear.

"Calm down Molly, there's absolutely nothing the _matter _with Harry, it's just that he won't be able to come here this holiday, at least not for the first fortnight anyway." Mr Weasley had taken off his coat and sat down at the kitchen table opposite his two identical sons, with all eyes in the room on him.

"What do you mean?" Asked Hermione.

"Why can't he come?" Added Ron, a wave of disappointment washing over both of their faces.

"Well Dumbledore seems to think that spending some time away from the wizarding world will let Harry calm down a bit, and it's less likely that he'll do something that he might regret. You know, there's a lot of emotion inside of him at the moment …" Mr Weasley began to explain.

"Yes, emotion that he can't bottle up! And that muggle family of his won't care for him at all or give him the support he needs! This is ridiculous Arthur, we're his real family and he needs us! Why didn't you protest to Dumbledore? Honestly, the man's a fool-" Mrs Weasley raged.

"Now my dear, you know just as well as I do that that's not true – Dumbledore above all people knows the best for Harry and wants him to be happy just as much as we do." Mr Weasley said calmly, taking his wife's hands in his to try and relieve her. Mrs Weasley was breathing heavily, and still shaking slightly, but seemed to be trying to understand the ancient headmaster's logic.

"Well," said Fred cheerfully, after a prolonged silence, "good old Dumblebums that's what I say!"

"Yeah, Harry'll be better in no time, and don't worry Mum, if we hear he's having a hard time, we'll send one of our extra-special Pooping Pies to his repulsive cousin, and then we'll see-"

"BOYS!" Mrs Weasley spun round just in time to see the heels of the twins whipping out of sight.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Hermione was lying in her sleeping bag, looking up at Ginny's dark ceiling, feeling immensely fed up. It wasn't that she didn't love staying with the Weasleys, who were like her second family, but the whole reason that she had come to the Burrow was to be with Harry and comfort him as a friend, and now that he wasn't arriving for weeks, Hermione wondered what she was going to do. She supposed that she'd spend much of her time with Ron, but seeing as they seemed to spend most of the time bickering about something or another, the idea of living in each other's pockets without Harry to keep them apart at the worst of times, didn't seem very heartening.

After a few minutes of thinking about this, Ginny entered her room, on the way back from the bathroom, and climbed into the bed opposite Hermione.

"Are you asleep?" she whispered, turning on her side to face the dark outline that was Hermione.

"Nope," Hermione replied.

"Are you okay? You've seemed kind of down since you heard about Harry not coming."

"Yeah, I just don't know whether Ron and I will be able to stand each other for two whole weeks without him."

"Ron'll love it," Ginny laughed. "He's really fond of you, you know Hermione."

Hermione smiled to herself as she heard this. She was very fond of Ron too, but not in the same way. She could never feel the way she wanted to feel with Ron – there was no thrill of excitement that you only get with someone new, someone you don't know, who might not be good for you. That impulsive risk is something that Hermione really wanted. Of course she was no expert on relationships, and had had little experience of any - the only person with which she'd ever had anything like what she imagined was Viktor, but that was never going to turn into anything real.

Ron offered her security and trust for sure, but that's what made him more like a brother to her, the same as Harry. She liked to have these brothers, as she'd always grown up as the only child in the family. She also didn't want to jeopardize this brotherly relationship with Ron, because she loved him too much for that.

For these reasons, she had always known that she didn't like Ron the way he wanted her to, and in time she hoped he would feel the same as her.

However, being here at the Burrow, she did feel like there was something crazy on its way, something unexpected. Maybe she felt this only because she craved it, but she couldn't help feeling excited. She felt so sure it was on its way. Glad that these thoughts had driven the feeling of boredom out of her mind, she drifted off to sleep with a tiny smile playing around her lips.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Morning! So we're leaving this afternoon for the match, is that okay Hermione? It's quite a short journey but we want to get settled tonight before tomorrow's kick-off don't we? I mean, it could be a long one – the last one was over four days!" Ron had burst into the kitchen with a spring in his step and a grin on his face, and was filling in his friend on the day's plans while pouring himself some orange juice.

"What? Oh, the match. Erm, yeah, Ron? I don't really feel like going to watch the Cudley Channons today …" Hermione trailed off pathetically.

"CHudley CAnnons, for the last time Hermione! But why don't you want to? You were all for it a few days ago. Are you ill? Wait a second, I'll go and get Mum-"

"No Ron I'm not ill. It's just the match – it's really not my kind of thing." Explained Hermione. " I'm sure if you gave my ticket to someone else they'd much prefer it, and Harry's too 'cause that's spare as well isn't it? Hey what about Fred and George, they like the Cud-Chudley Cannons don't they?"

"I suppose," mumbled Ron, his smile disappearing for the second time in two days. "I thought it would be fun though, just the two of us, seeing the greatest team on Earth-"

"Steady on Ron, they're not _that_ fantabydoobilus," commented Fred as he entered the kitchen in front of his clone.

"No, sorry Fred, but I have to disagree with you for the first time in my life, as they actually _are _that fantabydoobilus," said George matter-of-factly.

"Cheers George," said Ron. "Say, would you two want to come to the match, now that Harry and Hermione can't? Or won't …" he added with a regretful glance at Hermione.

"Hell yeah! Nice one Ronners, we really need to get out, those pie fumes are suffocating us, seriously." Said George, slumping into a chair next to Hermione and seizing the tickets in Ron's outstretched hand.

"Err speak for yourself matey," said Fred. "I'll pass thanks, I'm only obliged to see teams that are100percent fantabydoobilus."

"Will you two stop it with that word? It's not even real …" muttered Hermione irritably, but no-one took any notice.

"Fine then, it's just you and me then George," sighed Ron depressingly; his former jolly mood was progressively ebbing away.

"Tsk, don't sound too pleased darling baby sibling, I'm not sure whether I want to go now with someone who has a face like a smacked ar-"

"Oh I know who'd want to go with you – Lee. He's at a bit of a loose end as his folks have gone away, why not invite him?" Fred butted in.

"Sure, why not …" murmured Ron, as he sloped out of the kitchen, for the first time passing up breakfast.

By the time of their departure, George had managed to cheer up Ron, reminding him of how "awesomely fantabydoobilus" the game would be and after they had left, the house seemed much quieter.

Hermione was just lying on the sofa in the living room reading a book when she heard someone enter and sit down opposite her. She turned to see Fred.

"Missing your beloved twin already?" She asked, shifting so she could face him comfortably.

"Nope. You miss yours?"

"Mine? I don't have one. Blimey Fred, I know you didn't exactly pass your exams with flying colours but I would have thought you might be qualified enough to notice –"

"Yes yes very good. I meant Ron – he follows you around enough that you two could be called Siamese inseparables, wouldn't you agree?" Fred smirked, looking uncannily like a certain white-blonde Slytherin that Hermione wasn't too fond of.

" He doesn't follow me around that much …" Hermione sighed at the prospect of another debate about her and Ron's relationship. "If you're going to harp on about me and Ron like Ginny, then –"

"No don't worry, I'm not. And it's 'Ron and I' I think you'll find," he added, with a huge grin plastered on his face. "Do you realize that I just corrected you? Bow down Granger! For I am the new –"

"Oh be quiet," Hermione chuckled, lying back again to continue reading her book. She muttered dismissively, "you look and sound just like Malfoy …"

"HEY! Don't you compare me to that little son of a –"

"I wasn't! It was a joke. You know, they're those things that you say that aren't supposed to be taken seriously? You should be familiar with those, seeing as all you ever seem to do is take the –"

"Now now! I will not allow such language in my quarters! I am the head of the house you know. Well, apart from Dad."

"And Bill."

"Well yeah, but –"

"Oh and there's Charlie."

"Well he doesn't-"

"And of course let us not forget Percy, someoneI can relate to _much _more …"

"Yes alright, alright Missy Bookworm, but they're not here. In fact, I am the only male in the house!"

"Well actually there's-"

"Pigwidgeon _doesn't _count! I am the only _human _male in the house and so I am now the head, which is _above _you Hermione Granger!" Cried Fred, jumping up onto the armchair, with one hand on his hip and the other in the air, as a salute.

"Oh don't be such a drama queen Fred, honestly …" Hermione tutted as she tried to continue reading her book. "Anyway, I was going to say that you 'take the _mickey_', not what you were presumably implying. And besides, you nearly said 'son of a-'"

"Aha! There you go again! You know you're a real hooligan Hermione, I'm going to have to let darling Ron know about this extremely un-ladylike behaviour, then maybe he'll think twice about what he's letting himself in for, following you around 24/7 like a lapdog!" Fred laughed.

"Oh shut up you bully!" huffed Hermione, trying to hide her grin by sinking down further into the sofa and holding her book higher on her chest. Then it was knocked onto her fore-head by a cushion that had been thrown by Fred at her head. She immediately returned it, but widely missed her target.

"Me a bully? You're the hooligan! But deary me, we should have really gone to that game today shouldn't we? Perhaps to get some tips from the chasers on how to throw objects without missing their aims, oh and of course you can get hooligan tips at Quidditch matches …" laughed Fred, scampering from the room before Hermione could grab another cushion.

**A/N: Please let me know what you think so far, and if you have any ideas on what could happen next!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Fred! Fred! FRED WEASLEY WILL YOU KINDLY GET DOWN HERE AT ONCE!" It was midday the next day, and Mrs Weasley was standing at the foot of the rickety stairs that spiral up the centre of the house, with her hands on her hips and shrieking at the top of her voice. This, unsurprisingly, disturbed Hermione as she was trying to continue with her beloved book and she came down to see what the matter was. By the time she had reached her, Mrs Weasley's face was nearing the dangerous shade of deep plum, so Hermione stopped her and enquired unto the problem.

"Oh, it's nothing really, I just wanted him to clean out the fireplace in the kitchen as I'm off to see Percy now and I won't have time to do it until tomorrow, and the boys are to return by floo at any time, whenever the match finishes, and I don't want them caked up with dust like you were dear, and –"

"Mrs Weasley," Hermione interrupted her babble. "I'll clean it if you like. I don't have a lot else to do really and I like a challenge."

"Oh no my dear, you're a guest, I wouldn't dream of assigning you with such a degrading task! And you've been working so hard all this year and Fred has done nothing but sit and play around with silly worthless joke things and –"

"_Please_ Mrs Weasley," Hermione persisted. "I really could do with something to do."

So, after Hermione had eventually persuaded her, Mrs Weasley allowed her to sort the fireplace and then she left to visit Percy.

It was hard work, but at least it took her mind off feeling bored, with nothing to do. After about an hour, she heard footsteps behind her.

"Blimey, I thought Mum only made _us _her slaves."

"She hasn't _made _me anything – I wanted to do it."

"I will never understand you Hermione," sighed Fred, strolling out the back door.

"Well maybe that's because your brain is about an eighth of the size of the average human being's!" She called after him.

Hermione was unsure how she felt towards Fred; whether it was irritation, amusement, exasperation or curiosity, she just didn't know. But something about him intrigued her. His manner, his character was so different from hers; he was relaxed, care-free and spontaneous and she was sensible, grounded and disciplined.

That conversation may not have lasted for any longer than 30 seconds, yet Hermione thought about it for the remaining 2 hours that it took her to finish cleaning the fireplace.

By the time she had finished and had had something to eat, it was early evening, and before taking a shower, Hermione thought she would go out into the garden and sit for a minute as the cool breeze looked very appealing after being cooped up in a dark fire place and scrubbing it for 3 hours solid.

She went and sat on the bench outside the door, and spent a while inhaling the rich summer aromas and watching the butterflies performing in amongst the flowers and the horizon mounting into a deepening pink sunset. Hermione closed her eyes and enjoyed the tranquility.

The creak of the bench startled her, and she opened her eyes to the sight of Mrs Weasley sitting next to her. She felt disappointment surge through her, but didn't know why.

"Hello dear, thank you so much for doing the fireplace, it looks clean enough to eat off!"

Mrs Weasley kissed her on the cheek and then left to go to bed.

Hermione got up after a while and went to kneel down in front of a large assortment of roses, there must have been about nine of them, all fully grown. One brilliant red one near the back caught her eye; it was the prettiest flower she had ever seen. The rest were all peachy/orange colour but this one she liked the best. The red appealed to her, it was her favourite colour. She associated it with things close to her, secret desires that she never told anyone about; passion, danger, thrill, excitement, adventure but most importantly: love.

Suddenly someone appeared from the back of the garden, which interrupted her thoughts. She was pleased this time; it was Fred, and he was carrying a hose pipe.

"Your clothes are filthy!" He laughed.

"Honestly Fred, this shirt isn't _that _low-cut …" Hermione muttered rolling her eyes and getting up from her spot.

Fred laughed again, "No, I meant they're covered in crap!"

"Oi, remember the language rule! Oh, but I suppose you can swear because you're 'the head of the house'," Hermione laughed back, using air-quotes.

"Yes actually. Here, let's see what we can do …" Fred smirked.

Hermione let out a shriek as Fred turned the hose pipe on full blast and aimed it at her face.

"Ppftredd!" Hermione spluttered. "Oooh you're going to regret doing that …" She leapt and seized the nearest watering can, ran into the kitchen and filled it to the brim with icy water. By the time she had come back out, Fred was at the end of the garden, hooting with laughter.

Hermione crept around the inside of the garden wall, intending to come at Fred from behind, and as Fred was too busy trying to stifle his laughter and hide behind a bush, he wasn't expecting the great gush of freezing cold water that Hermione dumped on his head and down the back of his neck. He immediately jumped up and turned the hose on her again as she ran away.

"Ppfttkfmioneeee! I swear!" Yelled Fred, half laughing, half growling.

"Yes you do Fred, that's what annoys me!" Hermione sang heartily from the middle of the lawn. She was standing unarmed, as the watering can was now empty, with a truly mischievous grin on her face and Fred saw this as the perfect opportunity …

"Ooh, nowhere to hide now!" Fred muttered devilishly.

And then …

"AAARRRGGHHH! FREEDDD!" Hermione screamed – it was hard to tell whether she was angry, delighted, appalled, excited, disgraced or thrilled, as all of these words seemed to equally describe how she sounded.

Fred had leapt on top of her, shoved the hose in her face and held her down to make sure that she couldn't escape, and in her struggle she was screaming and laughing, while Fred was growling and laughing, as they both rolled around all over the grass soaking wet and freezing cold.

"What the DEVIL are you two doing!" Mrs Weasley had opened her bedroom window and was looking upon the pair with immense shock and disgust on her face. "Get up this INSTANT and get yourselves dried off and into bed before I have to come down and DRAG you! Honestly, I would expect this kind of behaviour from Fred, but YOU Hermione?" And with that she slammed the window shut so hard that the glass shattered, and Fred and Hermione could faintly hear her mutter the repairing spell before there was silence once more, and they both scurried off upstairs to bed in fright without another word.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The next day, the Burrow was the busiest it's been since Hermione had been there; Ron and George had returned with Lee, and Mr Weasley had come home for the weekend with Percy, so as you can imagine, there was barely room to move, let alone sit down comfortably to read Hogwarts: A History for the seventh time, which is something that Hermione would have liked to do. Instead, she settled for sitting outside on the bench again, as the garden was the quietest place.

"Hi," said a voice from behind. Hermione saw it was Ron and smiled.

" Hi! Glad to hear about your victory," she moved along the bench so he could sit next to her. "Good game then I suppose?"

"Awesome. So what have you been up to?"

" Nothing really. I've been doing a lot of reading."

"When haven't you?" Ron joked, and got hit playfully on the arm by Hermione.

"Those roses are beautiful aren't they? Did your Mum plant them?"

"You mean these old things?" asked Ron, getting up and squatting in front of the group of roses Hermione had admired the day before. She nodded. "Yeah, they are. Mine's a bit withered though."

"You have your own?" Hermione enquired, joining him.

"Yeah, look, this orange one with the fewest petals is mine. Don't know what's wrong with it." He muttered, gently fingering the remaining petals and gazing at them thoughtfully.

"Of course, there are nine of them, and there are nine of you! You all have one each then?" Exclaimed Hermione.

"That's right. Mum and Dad planted theirs when they first moved here, and planted one for each of us the day we were born. It's another weird family tradition we have – like the clock. They represent something … I don't really know what. Like how we're feeling, or about our future or something stupid like that. I'll bet it doesn't work, I mean look at mine. It looks pretty sad doesn't it? But I'm in a really good mood right now, especially after the Cannons' win, so whatever _that's _going on about …"

"Whose is the red one? It's magnificent." Hermione said, leaning in to give it a good sniff.

"That's Freds. I know that 'cause his has always been red. Never known why; all of the rest of ours have always been orange or peach, but his is always as red as red."

"YOU TWO! DINNER!" Mrs Weasley's voice came bellowing out the back door, and Ron and Hermione got up from the patch of roses and went to join the others.

"Come in," called Hermione, after someone rapped hard on Ginny's door.

"Hi, do you know any good remedies for sore throats?"

"Wait, wait; are you Fred or George?" She peered at the lanky ginger boy standing in the doorway.

"George. I'm actually asking for Fred. He kind of has a cold and he needs to get better for our shop opening in two days."

"Oh, err yeah I might, let me just grab a few books and I'll come and see him," she said, jumping off her bed and digging though her open trunk, picking out volumes the size of doorsteps.

"A few books? _Kind _of an understatement there Hermione –"

"Do you want my help or not?" She whipped her head round and glared.

"Yeah yeah sorry, I suppose you get a bit sick of the book jokes …" George smirked.

"Just a bit." Hermione said defiantly, throwing her hair back and marching past George with her arms full.

Two hours later, George had given up on his twin and gone to practice Quidditch outside with Ron and Lee.

"Traitor …" Fred had mumbled. "You know, I've been working on this shop of ours for all the days you've been enjoying a stupid Quidditch match, and when I fall ill, what do you do? Thank me dearly and bust your arse to find a cure for me as quick as possible before it's too late? No, you go outside to play some more bloody Quidditch!" George scurried off before Fred could finish, and Fred threw a snotty tissue after him in anger.

"You two are just like an old married couple!" Hermione had laughed.

"Well I'm the wife that's for sure! Doing all of his cooking and cleaning, having his dinner on the table without even so much as a thank you while he's off drinking and…" Fred trailed off realising he'd just called himself a woman. He coughed gruffly and hastily changed the subject while Hermione attempted to hide her amusement. "You didn't have to do this, you know. Help me, I mean. It's just a cold, it'll go away soon."

"No it's fine, I'm almost finished with this anyway." Hermione was stirring a yellow steaming liquid in a mug and adding every now and then some sprinkles of white powder. Finally she handed it to him. "Here, try to drink it all in one go."

Fred did as she instructed and then lay back on his pillows.

"Now you just have to wait." Hermione told him, sitting at the end of his bed. "Why isn't your Mum here treating you? She's an expert at this kind of stuff."

"She's still kind of annoyed at me. You know, about not cleaning the fireplace and going crazy with the hose the other night." He smiled.

"Yeah, I think she's a bit weird with me about that too. It did get a bit …"

"I know …" They both trailed off awkwardly.

"Is that why you have this cold?"

"Probably. Never mind though. What are you up to these days anyway, now Harry isn't coming until next week?"

"Nothing. That Cannons match was going to be what I was doing, but I didn't do that so…. I suppose I'll just have to wait until Harry gets here."

"Do you only want him here to protect you from Ron?" Fred laughed.

"No!" Hermione giggled; she was surprised at herself – Parvati and Lavender drove her up the wall when they did that. She sighed deeply. "I'm just worried about Harry, and want to be there for him right now."

After a silence Fred spoke: "Friend of the year, eh?"

Hermione smiled.

"I like to think that we're friends… you know?" Fred shifted in his bed and looked up at Hermione.

"'Course we are." She grinned and touched his hand. She was surprised by Fred's sudden leak of sensitivity, but pleased all the same.

**A/N: Thank you for all of my reviews; any suggestions on how to improve it or on what could happen next are appreciated!**

**Just to say that chapter 6 is on its way, and things are about to get exciting but i want to finish The HBP before I continue, I'm sure you all understand!**

**Many Thanks x**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

There was a rip, and then the sensation of the end of her bed falling off; when she opened her eyes, Hermione saw that Ginny had pulled the curtains open so that the room was bathed in gold, however she herself was in the looming shadow of Ginny who had leapt onto her bed, narrowly missing her feet, and was beaming down at her like the sun itself.

"Clear skies! You know what that means Hermione!" She grinned, yanking the quilt off Hermione and heaving her out of bed.

"Urgh … no actually …" She hung limp in Ginny's grasp to enable herself to flop back into the mass of pillows beneath her head. She then resorted to burying her head _under_ the mass as a result of Ginny screeching "QUIDDITCH PRACTICE! OPTIMUM CONDITIONS!"

Ron was obviously up, and had seen the weather, as he too could be heard from the depths of the house hooting enthusiastically, "Fred! George! Get your brooms and let's GO!"

After about half an hour of torturous upheaval (i.e. having to give in to Ginny's tugs and pleads and leave her lovely warm nest), Hermione shuffled down to the kitchen and managed to grab a few pieces of toast before she was hurried out into the open by all four Quidditch-loving Weasleys.

"Why do I have to come? I don't play Quidditch." Hermione moaned whilst being shunted up a hill towards a large green field by Ron.

"Come on, we'll have a tournament. Nothing serious, you know, just for fun!"

"Really, Ron, my kind of fun is more-"

"Reading Hoggies: A History? For Merlin's sake Hermione, let us know when the wedding is …" Ron snorted at George's comment but still persisted at urging her to join in.

After Hermione had refused point blank to get on a broom, Ron knew it was a lost cause, and he teamed up with Ginny to play against his twin brothers while Hermione settled herself on the grass in a warming ray of sunshine.

It was over an hour before they stopped for a break; Fred was still suffering from a slight head-cold so he sat down next to Hermione while George agreed to take on his younger siblings alone.

"Your cold getting any better?" Asked Hermione, marking the page she was on and putting her book down.

"Yeah, I think I should be fine by tomorrow." He lay back leisurely in the sun's gentle rays, putting his hands behind his head and closing his eyes.

"Tomorrow? Oh of course, the opening. I hope it goes well." Hermione was sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees and was gazing across the field watching birds fluttering in the distance, beyond Ron's repetitively bobbing and swaying head.

"Cheers. You should come along. Support and all that, you know." Fred was now collecting daisies ready to make a chain.

"No, you don't need me there getting in the way …" she said; her reply was cut off by the thunderous call of Mrs Weasley: "Ron! Ginny! Fred! George! Hermione! LUNCH!"

The three sweaty red-faced members of the group trudged back to The Burrow, eagerly discussing their performances without so much as a backward glance at Fred and Hermione.

They, however, stayed where they were; the situation was too pleasant to abandon, and neither had particularly worked up much of an appetite, so they continued to sit in silence.

Then Fred said, "Are you seriously going to just read books until Harry gets here?"

"Well there's not much else to do."

"What's going to make such a difference when Harry gets here though? I mean, sure, he might want to talk about …. stuff and everything, but when he gets over it, he's just another Weasley really."

"It's just better with him here I suppose …" Hermione didn't want to admit that it was her and Ron alone without him that made her feel uncomfortable, and that Harry being present made it easier to be around him; after all, Fred was his brother, and she didn't mean to offend Ron in any way.

Fred didn't seem convinced by her simple answer. "Do you have a soft spot for Harry?"

Hermione looked at Fred; she expected to see a broad smirk or a devilish grin on his face, but to her utter surprise his face was completely serious.

"No I don't. I thought you might ask that." She said.

"Oh that's good." He said, and then he mumbled, without the intention of Hermione hearing, "'cause Ron's not the only one who'd be pissed off if that was the case.."

"What do you mean?" Hermione shot at him, this time, to _his_ utter surprise.

"Oh … err … well, you know, Ginny's still pretty fond of Harry isn't she?" Fred attempted to answer casually, and to his relief, Hermione bought it.

"Oh yeah, right …." She muttered, looking at her feet.

After another thoughtful silence, Fred said, "Why don't we fly for a bit? It's better without the others throwing quaffles left right and centre." He stood up, looking expectantly at Hermione.

"I don't like flying." She replied, bluntly.

"Why? 'Cause you can't do it?" He asked, this time a very Fred-like grin appearing on his face.

"No!" She exclaimed, playfully chucking a fistful of grass at him, but his reflexes were too good and she missed.

"Ha!" Fred cried with glee. "Pathetic, Granger!" And with that, he threw an even bigger clump of grass in her face before running off to the broom shed, with her hot on his heels.

"I'm sure you're Malfoy in disguise, having drunk Polyjuice Potion or something!" She was calling, and when she was near enough, Fred seized her around the middle and pushed her onto his now-hovering broomstick with himself clambering on behind her. He then kicked off from the ground with an ear-splitting scream from Hermione.

"FRED! GET ME DOWN!" She yelled as they soared over the field and through the tree tops of a nearby wood, but what Fred couldn't see was the broad grin on her face and the bright sparkle in her eye; she was definitely enjoying it despite her desperate pleas for it to stop.

"Are you okay?" Fred breathed in her ear, apparently believing her false cries of fear."We can go lower if you want." And with that, the broom nose-dived slightly to decrease their height; Fred hastily put an arm around Hermione's waist at the sound of another cry of panic as she leaned back into him to prevent herself from toppling forwards, and with his other hand, Fred steered them around the edge of the field.

After about half an hour, Fred felt Hermione loosen up considerably, and she even offered to steer the broom herself.

"See, I knew you could do it!" He said into her ear; the warmth of his breath ironically gave her goose bumps.

"Yeah! But don't let go!" She added quickly, as she felt him loosen his grip around her.

Once he had a firm hold of her again, and she felt confident enough, Fred urged Hermione to go higher but they were soon met by the reappearance of Ron, Ginny and George.

"Hermione!" Ginny exclaimed, seeing Hermione zooming around above them with a huge smile on her face.

"What are you two doing out here? Why didn't you come to lunch?" Asked Ron, with a slightly disgruntled look on his face at the sight of the pair of them.

"Well I'm actually getting quite a meal out of Hermione's hair …" Called Fred, clearly getting mouthfuls of Hermione's bushy mane blown into his mouth as his head was right behind hers.

Everyone laughed at this except Ron, who just flew off to the two large oak trees that acted as goalposts in their Quidditch practices and tournaments, his eyes narrowed in the direction of Fred.

Assuming that the others wanted to resume their game, Hermione steered the broom down to the ground to safely get off and out of the way, but Fred objected.

"Why don't we play? Come on, you're confident enough to fly now aren't you?"

"Err … I don't know Fred, I've never played Quidditch before …" She replied reluctantly.

"We'll both be the beater." He summoned a beater's club from the broom shed, ignoring her reply, and gave it to her to hold.

"What do I do?" She cried, apparently slightly intimidated by the huge bludger that was soaring above their heads.

"Just hit it!" Laughed Fred. "Keep one hand on the club and one hand on the broom."

She did as he told her, and felt her stomach fall out beneath her when he placed his hand over hers on the club.

Hermione let out a whimper as the bludger was approaching at what seemed to be a tremendous speed, and Fred yelled, "SWING!"

As they both did so, the bludger went soaring in the opposite direction and no-one could stop what happened next; Ron was awaiting George's attempt at a goal, and right in it's line of fire (although Ron stupidly didn't notice this), the bludger rocketed face on at him, and with a dull crunch, a whine and a thud, they all looked round to see Ron in a heap on the ground, with his broomstick snapped in two.

**A/N: I know there have been some requests for more action and progress in their relationship, but don't be put off because as soon as Harry arrives, things will start to get crazy! Please tell me what you think!**

**Thanks x**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 

"Ron! Ron, I'm so sorry!" Hermione whispered into her hands as she crouched by his bedside.

Everyone had congregated in Ron's attic bedroom the morning after the disastrous incident of Ron's broom _and _nose getting broken in half.

"He probably can't hear you Hermione; the effect of the potion is rather prolonged. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't regain consciousness for another day or two."

With this news from Mr Weasley, everyone left him and went about their own business, including Hermione, however her face full of immense concern despite Ginny's constant reassurances.

Hermione hadn't seen Fred since last night, as he and George had left at the crack of dawn for their big shop opening that day; she was alone in the house besides Ron, who was hardly great company when he was unconscious, however part of her felt relieved that she could be left alone. (Mr Weasley and Percy had returned to the Ministry – Hermione understood this completely given the dire situation at the moment concerning Death Eaters on the loose, inexplicable muggle killings and of course the unknown whereabouts of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named; Mrs Weasley had simply gone shopping in Diagon Alley – it was recommended to be done at the weekend as it was then that better guard could be kept of customers, and Ginny had gone to visit Dean.)

For the whole day Hermione did nothing but attempt to continue reading her loyal friend in type: Hogwarts:A History, but to her increasing annoyance, she was frequently interrupted by the random appearances of two faces in her head: Ron's and Fred's.

Just as she was starting to feel incredibly frustrated at the sight of the repeating image of Fred's face slowly morphing into Ron's, a sudden 'thump' distracted her; it came from upstairs – in the direction of Ron's bedroom. She raced up the spindly staircase to investigate the cause of the disruption.

"Ron?" She burst in to find him in a lump on the floor, for the second time in two days. She helped him up and pushed him back on his bed and under the covers.

"Urrgh …. I thoughd I'd be okay do ged up … obviouzly nod …" He sounded as though he was suffering from a severely blocked nose, as it was wrapped in approximately 2 inches thick of bandages and every noise he made sounded muffled and distant.

"Well, that potion your Mum gave you last night gives side-effects of dizziness and extreme disorientation as a result of an attempt of movement if the drinker isn't fully cured, and seeing as you fell in a heap when you attempted movement, I'm guessing that you're not yet cured, so no, I don't think it would be that wise to try and get up _just _yet …"

"Herbiodee, ztop fuzzing!" She was plumping up his pillows, straightening out his sheets and dabbing his forehead with a wet flannel until he snapped and flapped his arms, indicating for her to give him some space.

"Sorry …" She sat down in the chair by his bed. "I'm just sorry about … yesterday and everything."

"Doezn'd madder … waz Fred'z fauld …" Ron looked glum and started picking at his nails.

"No, it was both of us Ron. We should have warned you or something." Hermione leaned out to touch his forehead again put he pulled away.

"Why were you zo cozy wid hib edyway? I didn'd evud dow you were friendz!" He said fiercely, the tips of his ears glowing red.

"For Heaven's sake Ron, he was only teaching me a Quidditch move, and helping me to fly with a bit more confidence-" Hermione stood up defensively, the colour in her cheeks rising like it was in Ron's, however not out of anger.

"I would have helbed you!" Ron said loudly. "Why were you zo relukdand do come dear me on a broob but whed he offerz, you go and prakdically sid on dop of hib!"

"Ronald, I did no such thing!" Hermione began to get irritated now.

"You fanzy hib don'd you?" Ron's face seemed now contorted with rage. "You've beed zeeing hib all dis tibe! Datz why you've beed zo disdand!" Ron threw back his covers and made to get out of bed again. "I'LL KILL HIB!"

"That is ENOUGH!" Hermione shrieked, shoving him back into bed a little more forcefully than was probably necessary. "Yes, I am friends with Fred-" (Hermione heard the bedroom door open at this point but didn't look round, she was too occupied calming Ron down) "-but that's IT Ron! Why would I have feelings for Fred? I don't find him attractive at ALL and I am insulted by your insinuation of doing something so ridiculous as fancying him! Now do you understand me Ron? There is NO WAY, do you hear me?"

After she had watched Ron give a rather hesitant but satisfied nod, she turned to the door to see why it had opened, and to her absolute horror, she saw the back of Fred disappear out of sight.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Fred?" Hermione leapt up from Ron's bedside and sped off after the retreating back of Fred Weasley, leaving Ron looking bewildered and slightly annoyed. She ran down the first flight of stairs and collided with someone;

"Bloody hell! Why is everyone zooming around today like someone's shoved a ton of dynamite up their-"

"You're not Fred?" Hermione shot at him desperately.

"Nein, ich bin George. Look, there is a way of telling the two of us apart, and I'm sure I trust you enough to let you in on it –"

"Sorry George, I don't really have time!" Hermione called back to George's vaguely disappointed face as she continued her hunt for Fred at top speed; he shrugged it off however, and went to visit Ron.

By the time she had reached the kitchen, she was thoroughly out of breath and so she sunk into a chair at the large wooden table, accepting defeat.

Ten seconds later, Mrs Weasley entered, humming cheerfully.

"Oh, hello dear, I've just got back from the alley. Excellent sale on at the Grocer's you know, I was able to get 10 shallots for the price of just –"

"Mrs Weasley, have you seen Fred?"

"No, but I've just seen George up in Ron's room. I think they must have just got back from the opening …"

"Right, yes, never mind …" Hermione sloped off to her and Ginny's bedroom before Mrs Weasley had finished.

The week that followed was extremely boring for Hermione; Ron was bedridden, (apparently the injury was far more extensive than Mrs Weasley had anticipated) and spent much of his time sleeping, there was still no news from Harry or when he would arrive, Ginny was sometimes around to talk to but much of the time she was either visiting Dean or writing "pretty" letters to him – ("Give it BACK George! It's not a love letter, it's just a normal bog-standard letter that's nice and pretty, you know, with hearts and flowers on it …"), and Fred and George spent every minute of the day apart from the evening meal, at their shop, however Hermione rarely saw Fred because he was often late and took his dinner to his room when he returned.

It bothered Hermione that week, that Fred seemed to be avoiding her; finding out that he had heard what she said about him to Ron and not getting the chance to justify what she had said was unbearable – she needed to tell him that she only said it to keep Ron happy. She didn't find him unattractive, although it was true in her saying she didn't see him "that way". He was her crazy friend, and his spontaneity and healthy zest for life was something that she really liked and admired, and that was the other thing that she couldn't stand: those random encounters with Fred over the first week of the holidays had been so weird but also fun. Hermione had always believed that books and academia were the only real sources of pleasure that she herself could experience, but thinking about it now, it seemed that Fred had lit up a whole new side to her, that had been kept in the dark all her life so that she didn't know she really had it. She was "a bookworm with an edge!" as he had once called her. It felt strange, but she realised that she missed him.

On the Friday of the second week, Hermione approached George, who had stretched out luxuriously on the rug in front of the fire in the living room.

"George? Do you happen to know where Fred is, by any chance?" She perched on one of the sofas and looked at the top of his head that was lit up by the blaze of the fire, and tried to appear and sound casual in her enquiry.

He yawned, and rolled over on his front to look back at her.

"I think he's out with that bird again …" He folded his arms in front of him and returned his head to the floor and closed his eyes.

"Bird? You mean like an owl?"

George laughed a laugh uncannily similar to one she knew so well. "No, this girl who we interviewed earlier this week for the assistant job in our shop. Verity, I think her name is …"

"Oh …" Hermione started tensely fumbling with the tassles on a nearby cushion. "So you mean … like on a date?"

"Yeah, probably. To tell you the truth Hermione, I don't really know. He just mumbled something to me about 'Verity', 'dinner' and 'better than being at home', so you can draw your own conclusions from that …" George trailed off sleepily, unaware of Hermione indeed drawing her own conclusion, with watery eyes and trembling fingers.

**A/N: Pleeeeease review the story so that I know what you all think and so I know whether to continue with it! I will love you all so much! Thaaaank you x**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Hermione sank onto her bed and heaved a deep, shaky breath, and then several more. She subsequently reached for a book on the floor by her bed, opened it, leaned back on the headboard and began to read, (if reading means gripping the book until your knuckles are white and blinking 50 blinks per second at the same word).

"What's up with you?" Ginny came into the room and was absent mindedly tying a letter, (undoubtedly to Dean), to Pigwidgeon and carrying the euphoria-filled bird over to the window to release. "You look like you've just been dumped! What's the matter, Ron only gazed at you 50 times today instead of his usual 100?"

Hermione tried to laugh but found her mouth extraordinarily dry. "Ha …. It's nothing…"

Why was she so emotional – was it anger she felt? Sadness, devastation, irritation? But why would she feel any of these? So Fred's gone on a stupid date with a stupid girl called Verity. What's the big deal? He goes on dates all the time, with Angelina mostly. It's what Fred _does. _Did she think that now they've been talking more he would just stop dating? Why would he do that? It's ridiculous. She knew that. Come on, Fred was her friend, a crazy friend who drove her round the bend at the best of times. Why does she care about a bloody date? Was she _jealous_? Come off it …

"Ginny?" Hermione shot before she could stop herself.

"Yeah?" Ginny was now flicking through this month's edition of the Quibbler, courtesy of Luna, with an expression on her face mingled with confusion and deep amusement.

"You know … if you're friends with someone? Or you at least know them pretty well?"

"Yeah …"

"Well, err … how long is the transition, normally, between just friends and, well you know …" Hermione's voice had now reached a rather quavering high note, and her cheeks looked slightly flushed. She avoided Ginny's eyes. She didn't even know why she was asking Ginny this. She told herself she was simply enquiring unto Fred's situation with this Vera person …

"Hermione, do you ….?" Then a look of sudden realization lit up her face. "So you _do _like Ron? I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT!"

Hermione opened her mouth to speak but wasn't noticed as Ginny had proceeded to jump up and down on her bed, clapping her hands together and hooting with glee.

Then, before she could stop her, a typical frightening Weasley-grin stretched across Ginny's ecstatic face and she leapt off the bed and sped out the door while Hermione, knowing full well she could never catch her, simply lay back on the bed and covered her face with her hands.

**A/N: Okay okay I know that was short and a bit rubbish, but I'm just writing up Chapter 10 so you won't have to wait long! Pleeeease review so I know what you all think so far!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Hermione was wandering down the hall towards the kitchen feeling frustrated and fed up _again_; she still had Fred and Veronica playing on her mind, Ginny had got the wrong end of the stick earlier, thinking that she now likes Ron, and there was no-one around _again_.

"Honestly Harry, please get here soon …" She murmured to herself; as if answering to her request, she saw a blur of colour rush past in front of her. It was orange however, so she knew it was a Weasley, not a Potter. "Ron? Ginny? I thought you two had gone …?"

Hermione entered the living room and saw the person in question rifling through a pile of magazines in the far corner. Her face flushed; it was the twin she had longed to speak to for too long.

"Fred!" She collapsed onto her knees beside him so that their faces were level.

"Err … Hermione, actually I –"

"No, please! SILENCIO!" She muttered, pointing her wand at his mouth, leaving him simply sitting and gaping like a fish while she looked at him, feeling slightly guilty but determined all the same.

"P-please, j-just hear me out …"

His expression was pained and it was clear that he was trying to tell her something he felt was important but she ignored his wild arm-flapping gestures and looked at the floor.

"Fred listen, I didn't mean what I said in Ron's room, about you being unattractive and ridiculous to fancy, I only said it to keep Ron calm! I'm not saying that I _do _fancy you," she added hastily, "because, well, you and Vanessa I'm sure are very happy and I wouldn't want to interfere …. C-cong-gratulations about that by the way!I'm sure she is simply delightful but … oh Fred please, _please _don't be angry with me, I couldn't bare for you to think lowly of me. This week has been so hard because I thought you hated me … Do you hate me? Oh I _do_ hope not because …. I know, I know we haven't spent that much time together but I feel like I know you … you don't keep going on about Ron and me, and I can't _stand _it when people do because no matter how subtly I put it no-one seems to understand that he is _just _my friend, you know? I don't want to hurt him, and I also don't want to fall out with you or anything Fred – I've really liked having you as a friend. I know it hasn't been for that long but, when we're together … do you know what I mean? I really don't know if it's normal …I've just started thinking about … Oh I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I'm embarrassing both of us! You have Velma and I seriously need to get a grip … oh goodness I should never have said anything!" Hermione was talking incredibly fast and now seemed to be on the verge of tears.

Before she could carry on, her audience member suddenly clicked his fingers under her nose and gestured towards his mouth and then placed his hands together indicating a plea to speak. Hermione reached for her wand and nervously muttered the counter-charm allowing him to speak again, mumbled an apology and sat awkwardly, looking at him. His face was serious, and he looked confused.

"Hermione?"

"Yes?" She answered, her eyes wide.

"I'm George."

**A/N: Hey folks! Thank you SO much for all the reviews, and I'm glad you like the story so far. The bad news is that I'm going on holiday in a couple of days for two weeks, so hopefully I'll be able to get another chapter up before I gobut then it'll be a while until I can continue. But please come back when I update!**

**Thanksx**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Fred, please, can't you save those stupid twin jokes for another time, I really need to –"

"I _am _George, Hermione. Ich bin George."

He looked intently at her. She looked back. She felt sick; it _was _George. Not Fred. She didn't know exactly how she could tell, she just could. Something about the eyes …

She suddenly came out of her reverie. "George, look, you have to understand that –"

"What? That you have feelings for my brother? My twin brother; my older brother, not my little brother?" Hermione had never seen George look so shocked and disconcerted – he was always brimming with pride and confidence; now however, the cheeky glint in his eye was gone and there was no colour left in his cheeks apart from his dull orange freckles.

"No, look – wait, Fred's your older brother? But you're twins?"

"Well yeah, but you see he came out just a few minutes before- No no! I know what you're trying to do, don't change the subject!" George had suddenly narrowed his eyes and was pointing his finger right at Hermione. He meant business.

Hermione sighed. "I don't have 'feelings' for Fred! I actually _specified _that I didn't, remember? I said he was a great friend and everything but …" Hermione was clearly panicking at the thought of Fred's twin brother, with whom he shared everything, gaining the knowledge that she cared for Fred a little more than everyone, even Hermione herself, thought.

"Puurlease Hermione, I'm sorry to correct you and everything but I think that for once in your swotty bushy little lifetime, you need to be. I heard your speech okay? And it seriously sounds like you do fancy him-"

"No! No! No I don't George!" Tears were now leaking out of Hermione's wide watery eyes with frustration as she frantically swatted her shaky hands at him, trying to talk him out of what he just said. She leapt to her feet and started pacing the room, wringing her hands as the tears kept spilling. She avoided George's eyes again. "I don't, I don't, I know it might sound like it but I just miss talking to him, being with him and I don't want him to think badly of me and be off with some girl talking to her like he could be talking to me …"

"Why would he think badly of you?"

"Oh, I was in Ron's room the other week when he was injured, and he thought me and Fred were up to something, you know, and he threatened to kill Fred, so obviously I had to _do _something to prevent Ron getting sent to Azkaban, so I told him he had nothing to worry about because I'd never look at Fred that way …. and Fred heard." She looked at her feet.

"_Were _you up to something?" George asked incredulously.

"No! That _was _the truth, that I didn't think I'd ever see Fred that way, but it must have sounded awful when he heard it … but it wasn't as if we _were _doing anything …"

"Look, I wouldn't blame you to feel that way, to be honest, we are _very _good-looking …"

"GEORGE! WHY DO YOU _ALWAYS_ HAVE TO BE SPITTING JOKE AFTER JOKE AFTER JOKE OUT 24 HOURS A DAY EVEN WHEN SOMETHING THAT ACTUALLY _MEANS _SOMETHING AND WHEN PEOPLE ARE _UPSET_ –"

"Geez! I'm sorry okay? Crying girls just make me uncomfortable …" He got up hesitantly and walked over to Hermione where she was cowering a little after her outburst, and he rubbed her gently on the back. She simply sniffed and dabbed her eyes with her sleeve to try and stem the continuous flow from them.

After she said nothing, he spoke, but his voice was calmer and softer than before, obviously to try and comfort her as she was in such a state. "Hermione, don't break down … just be honest with yourself. You have feelings for Fred."

"No but I –"

"_Listen. _Why are you so upset about it? Yeah, it's kind of random I'll admit and I didn't expect it, but it's not _wrong._ You shouldn't feel guilty. I guess Ronniekins will be a bit miffed when he finds out, but –"

"Finds out? What? George, you musn't tell -!"

"No relax, I won't say a word." George stopped patting her after she had calmed down a bit, and returned to the floor, where he propped his head on his fist and looked thoughtful. Then he looked back up at Hermione. "But _you_ have to."

"Me? Tell who? What the devil are you –"

George chuckled slightly, sounding mysteriously like his old Headmaster. "Hermione, you've got to tell Fred."

Hermione's face was horror-stricken. His was calm and serious. She knew he was right.

"B-but what about him, and … you know … _her_?" Hermione placed extra emphasis on the last word, indicating her feeling of utmost loathing towards it, even though she didn't really know who "it" was.

"That's nothing serious. Trust me. He's just going out with Verity because he's miserable. I knew something was up with him you know. Thinking about it, he could be feeling the same way as you …"

But Hermione was suddenly hit with a sensation that highly resembled that of a bludger, or a blow by a beater's club – (wow, she really hated Quidditch …). She couldn't tell Fred. Tell him what anyway? That she doesn't want him ever to leave her side? That she didn't want him to ever go near any other girl, let alone this Verity person from his shop? And what about the fact that she wants to be with him _all _the time? Not like Ron or Harry, or even like she did with Viktor, or anyone she's ever known for that matter … but _all _the time. Talking with him, playing with him, laughing with him, just sitting with him, or even bickering with him, she didn't care. Each one of those scenario's included Fred. That's all she really wanted.

But wait, what was she saying? What about Ron? What George said was right – he wouldn't be just "a bit miffed", he would be devastated. She knew it. And Ginny, she could be upset – she was so excited at the belief of her wanting to be with Ron. And what about everyone else who was rooting for her and Ron to get together? Her friends, her family, _his _family … how many people would she be hurting, how many friendships would she be jeopardizing, how many dreams would she be shattering, just for one desire that at the moment felt immoral and wrong ….

George could see that Hermione was having an inward battle with her true feelings and her conscience by the complicated and painful looking expression on her face, and as if he were performing Voldemort-standard occlumency, he gave her the sweet answer she knew and needed, but refused to accept;

"If it's meant to be, Hermione, it'll be worth it."

**A/N: Okay, well there you go! I wrote that today - sorry if it seems a bit rushed; I just wanted to get it up there for you guys. Pleeease review, and any ideas on what could happen next would be appreciated - you know what you want better than I do! Should Hermione tell Fred? How will Fred react? Will George spill the beans ...?**


	12. Author's Note

Author's Note

Sorry everyone, I really am going to have to put this story on hold because I'm off on holiday, but at least it'll give me plenty of time to think up a few crazy things that can happen as Hermione decides whether or not she should tell Fred. Harry will be arriving soon too, so that's going to change things a bit. Anyway, I've got to go, bye!

P.S. Thank you sooooo much for all of my reviews, they really help with the progress of the story and they make my day! Please come back to it in two weeks to read the updates!


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 12

Hermione awoke late on Saturday morning; the previous night, after her talk with George, she hadn't been able to sleep and had resorted to sitting on the bench in the yard until past midnight, simply watching the stars. It hadn't been until she felt Crookshanks mewing and shivering on her lap that she realised how late and cold it was, and had hurried up to bed.

As she descended the creaky stairs on Saturday morning, she heard many lively voices chattering away in the kitchen below; she groaned inwardly at the thought of facing all the Weasleys after her several emotional outbursts and false revelations over the past few days, feeling particularly cautious of Ginny and George. However, when she stepped over the threshold, no awkward or expectant glances were cast her way; everyone was huddled around a small piece of parchment being held by Mrs Weasley, who was clutching it as if it were made of gold and was positively beaming.

"Tonight?" Said Ron eagerly, (who had recently recovered from his unfortunate bludger-induced injury but was still having to drink a rather foul-smelling green potion three times a day), peering over his mother's shoulder, his eyes bright, and stuffing a very heavily-buttered piece of toast into his mouth.

"Yes, yes! Oh, we shall have to have a party! I've been so worried …"

"Morning," Hermione said timidly, as no-one seemed to have noticed her quiet arrival.

"Hermione! Harry's coming tonight!" Ron grinned, before taking another enormous bite of his toast.

Hermione smiled and heaved a silent sigh of relief for two reasons: Harry was _finally _coming, and by the looks of it, Ginny had not told Ron what she had presumed yesterday. On a second scan of the small, noisy room, she realised that Ginny in fact wasn't there – visiting Dean again was her suspicion – and neither was Fred, _again_. Perhaps he was visiting –

"Hello Hermione, dear, sit yourself down and I'll bring you some eggs .." Mrs Weasley, clearly just as joyous as the rest, pushed Hermione into a chair at the scrubbed wooden table, and bustled off to the cooker to sort her out some breakfast.

After she had finished and was just about to go upstairs to take a shower, Hermione was cornered by George. But before he could say anything, she spoke:

"George, this is ridiculous, I can't possibly tell Fred what I told you, its –"

"Don't start denying it now! I heard what you said and I'm not stupid." He fixed her with a very firm, slightly intimidating gaze and didn't blink for several seconds. "Besides, you have to …. before other people get involved and then it will get confusing …"

"If you're talking about 'Verity-darling', then save your breath," Hermione hissed. "It would be a waste of time George, honestly, the two of them are obviously extremely happy together seeing as they never seem to spend a second apart, and what I said to you was rubbish anyway, I didn't even mean it, I was upset and –"

"Hermione, stop babbling!" Geroge said with exasperation. "I wasn't talking about her anyway, I meant –"

"George! Are you off to get those fireworks?" His mother's voice suddenly erupted from somewhere distant, but was very loud none-the-less.

George sighed impatiently. "Look, come with me, I'm going to the shop to pick up some fireworks for tonight, and he'll be there –"

"No! Won't you listen George? I'm not telling him anthing! There's nothing to tell! I thought I knew him but I don't think I really do … he's not the same, out with that Verity all the time and –"

"Hermione!" George exclaimed, sounding annoyed now. "She's not there, they're not even –"

"GEORGE!" Mrs Weasley's voice boomed through the house again.

"Yeah, I'm going!" He yelled distractedly before turning on Hermione again and talking extremely hurriedly. "Look, I've been talking to Ginny, and it's bloody important you tell Fred 'cause it sounds like tonight –"

"GEORGE WEASLEY! WILL I HAVE TO COME DOWN AND DRAG YOU?"

Before his mother could catch up with him, George grabbed a handful of powder from a small pot on the mantelpiece, threw it into the fire and leapt into the waist-high now-emerald green flames and mouthed to Hermione, (who was standing watching, apparently slightly taken aback by his sudden departure), "Just do it before tonight!", before yelling "DIAGON ALLEY!" and vanishing with a tiny 'pop!'.

**A/N: Hi everyone, I'm back! Hope you liked that chapter - sorry it's so short but there will be a lot happening in the next one, what with the party and everything, so stay tuned! And please review:)**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry it's been a while, but this is a long one so I hope it makes up for it. Please review so i know what you think! Thanks x**

Chapter 13

For the remainder of that day up until early evening, The Burrow greatly resembled a circus, and its busyness, Hermione thought, could have rivalled that of the Ministry of Magic itself; people were rushing in and out of fireplaces every 5 seconds with a "whoosh" and a "pop", jostling about the tiny rooms and sprinting up the spindly staircase, Mrs Weasley could be heard every 2 minutes yelling instructions to the rest of the household to put up tables, hang up banners, ice the cakes and plump up the cushions. To do all this for Harry would normally be rather eccentric but Hermione completely understood Mrs Weasley's efforts on this occasion, as Harry really needed all the distractions he could get.

Hermione offered to help with the preparation but Mrs Weasley simply told her that it was not her responsibility as a guest, and she knew better than to persist with Mrs Weasley while she was in such a frantic mood, so she simply went up to Ginny's bedroom, lay on her bed and closed her eyes.

She was indeed looking forward very much to her best friend's arrival and the party that would follow, but she couldn't help feeling slightly nervous about George's last words to her before flooing to Diagon Alley. What did he mean, it's important to tell Fred before tonight? What would be happening tonight that he was discussing with Ginny? And why should she talk to Fred just because George insists? Its got nothing to do with him, apart from the fact that Fred is his brother. But whenever she thought about confessing her feelings to Fred, she felt nauseous; was it because of her fear of humiliation when she was laughed at by Fred and rejected? Or was it the anger she felt at his latest squeeze? Hermione realised she would probably be meeting her tonight. And that was another reason not to say anything – she wouldn't want to be looked down on by her either …

Hermione wasn't aware how long she lay there but she was aware of the painful poke a finger gave her in the arm to forcefully jolt her out of her musings.

"Ouch!" She opened her eyes to see huge brown ones peering down at her, both alight with brilliant sparkles, and framed by thick waves of carrot-orange hair. "Ginny what did you do that for?"

"The party's starting in half an hour, we should get ready!" She grinned before yanking open her wardrobe doors and chucking over her shoulder, so that they landed on Hermione's head, the largest number of sparkly, glamorous, over-the-top garments Hermione had ever seen in her life.

"Ginny, how many party outfits do you _have _exactly?" Hermione enquired, incredulously.

Ginny giggled. "Oh, quite a few. Pavarti and Lavender gave me a bunch at the end of last term 'cause they'd grown out of them, and Dean's got a muggle sister who's really cool and she's lent me stuff too. So take your pick!"

After being truly overwhelmed by the immense capacity of Ginny's wardrobe, Hermione chose a chocolate knee-length halterneck while Ginny opted for something rather more daring. (When Hermione had seen her outfit she had gasped: "Ginny! Is that really appropriate?" Ginny had simply giggled, blushed to the roots of her hair and replied, "Well Dean's coming and he might stay the night …" Hermione had laughed at this and said, "Well, I'm moving out of your room if that's the case – your bed creaks like crazy!")

Once the pair were downstairs, Mrs Weasley informed them that Harry would be arriving in about five minutes and that they should all gather round the fireplace in the kitchen with everyone else – that was after she had shrieked at Ginny to go and dress in something more "respectable and dignified", with the full support of the rest of the family – (all protective brothers and father of course), but much to the secret dismay of Dean who had already arrived and his eyes had almost fallen out the moment he saw her.

When everyone had assembled, they needed only to wait 2 or 3 minutes before there was a very dusty whirl of green in the kitchen fireplace, and Harry Potter had come tumbling out to meet the many arms embracing him enthusiastically.

"Harry! Oh my dear, my dear, how are you? Oh, look at you, you look famished, come and have some food … goodness, you look almost as thin as my wand –" Mrs Weasley, almost sobbing, was holding Harry in such a tight grip that her knuckles had gone white.

"Mum! Bloody hell, let him breathe! How are you mate?" Ron grinned, slapping his best friend on the back and giving him a warm handshake with both of his own.

By the time all of the Weasley family had greeted Harry, he looked thoroughly worn out, and smiled wearily at Hermione as he reached her at last, and she hugged him closely.

"Heavens, Harry, I've missed you so much! Have you been okay? Mrs Weasley's right, you do look rather thin, you should definitely go and eat something …"

Harry simply laughed appreciatively at Hermione's concern and did as she suggested; as Harry went out into the yard where the rest of the family were and where several tables had been laid out holding plate upon plate of Mrs Weasley's marvellous cooking, and helped himself to plenty while catching up with everyone else, Hermione remained in the quiet kitchen and helped herself to a Butterbeer from the table.

As she was opening it, there was a second roaring of emerald flames from the fireplace in front of her, and this time, out stepped George – he was evidently carrying a big box of Dr Filibuster's fireworks – but also had his arm around a blonde girl wearing rather thickly-applied red lipstick.

"Hi Hermione," he smiled. "Err … this is Verity."

Hermione dropped the lid of her Butterbeer bottle with a clatter. What was _she _doing here? And why did George have his arm around her? Surely that should be Fred?

For the second time, George appeared to read Hermione's mind and said, "Erm, Verity's just had a bit of a bust up with Fred, thought coming here might cheer her up a bit …" George shifted uncomfortably, his arm still around her, and Verity gave a rather pathetic 'sniff'.

"But that's not a very good idea is it?" Asked Hermione, slightly confused. "I mean, _Fred will be here_." She added, with a meaningful stare at George.

He avoided her eyes. "Actually, he erm .. said he might just stay at the shop tonight. You know, work on some figures …" He threw Hermione a vaguely apologetic look before steering Verity out of the kitchen, leaving Hermione alone once more.

Hermione sat heavily in a chair at the scrubbed wooden table, feeling utterly confused. So Fred had fallen out with Verity? That leaves her to tell him how she feels. Yet George had obviously only managed half of what Hermione assumed as his plan – he managed to separate the two love-birds, but Fred wasn't coming, so she couldn't talk to him and why on _earth _had George bought _her _here? Was Hermione supposed to floo to the shop to see Fred, and George was simply getting Verity out of the way for her?

But before she could even think about an answer to all these questions, a third person stumbled out of the fireplace before her, and to her surprise, it was Fred.

Was this part of 'the plan'? Did George tell Fred to follow? Apparently not, because before Hermione could open her mouth to speak to Fred at long last, he sped out the same door George and Verity had departed from and vanished from view within a second, only glancing at her briefly, looking extremely nervous and agitated.

"Arrgh!" Hermione huffed, exasperated. She gripped her Butterbeer bottle tightly. She could have talked to him then. Why do things keep getting in the way? Like sniffly blonde shop assistants, shifty looking Georges and anxious, clammy Freds … She pictured for a moment Professor Trelawney's great milk-bottle spectacles rising above a misty orb, and wispily declaring, "I see a blonde red-lipped barrier hindering your task my dear … 'tis truly not meant to be …" She let out a derisive laugh; she would never let a daft prediction like that from a pathetically desperate old fraud stop her from doing anything and make her think anyway differently before now, and it certainly wouldn't affect her _right _now. She ignored these negative thoughts, despite her increasingly negative mood and came to a conclusion: She had to tell Fred what she had told George, when she thought he was Fred, the other night. Everything. Because she meant it now, more than ever. She wanted to be talking to Fred again so much, the yearning was almost ripping her insides apart. That fuzzy warm feeling, being able to do anything and say anything without feeling stupid, forgetting who she was and becoming someone she never knew was the most amazing thing that has ever happened to her – including getting top marks in everything. She was sure that was the _real _her – someone only Fred could awaken. It only happened when she was with Fred Weasley.

It was now or never. She was standing it no longer. She wasn't sure what she was going to do when she reached him. She was angry at his ignorance towards her, and his reluctance to speak to her for the past week – was she going to scream, yell, stamp her feet and shake him until his little ginger head falls off? No. She just wanted to talk. Tell him. It seemed like years ago she had had that fuzzy feeling inside her, and she wanted it back. She wanted him back.

But what if he just laughed and told her he didn't have time for her silliness because he was so in love with Verity? There wasn't time to think of that – she had to do it now …

She stormed out of the kitchen door, buzzing with fear, excitement, anticipation, and longing worse than ever. Sooner than she expected, she spotted Fred's strangely pale, unfamiliar face through the crack of the closed living room door. He was wringing his hands and pacing around the room. She was just about to enter when she realised a second person was in there with him.

"I dunno Fred, I really don't …" The voice trailed away hopelessly.

"I've just got to sort this out. We got on so well before … I dunno what's happened. I suppose it's my fault really, I've been avoiding her ever since she told him she didn't actually like me. It was just a shock, you know? She said it so bluntly as if it was obvious. And I really thought …. Now she's just been hanging around with _him _ever since …"

"Mmm … our darling brother …" The second voice sighed.

So wasGeorge now seeing Verity? And the stupid bimbo had been playing them both? And Fred wants her back? Hermione's stomach gave a squirm and she leaned closer to listen as they continued.

"I suppose the two of them are better suited to each other than her and me … but she needs to know how I feel before, as you say, our 'darling' brother gets his mitts firmly on her. I've never felt this way before, you know? It's been agony without her … This is big man, I mean, I'm Fred – I never get deep feelings!"

The second voice gave a weak laugh and walked over to Fred and placed a hand on his shoulder. (Hermione saw that it was his older brother Bill.)

"What about …?" Bill trailed off again.

"Oh her? Bloody finito, mate. It was never anything anyway. So we spent like, a week together – it was crap. It meant nothing. I _thought _she'd be a laugh but she's actually a bit of a miserable cow …"

Hermione drew back from the door and stifled a cry – he was talking about her! That week really meant nothing to him? He thought she was miserable? Maybe it served her right after what he heard her telling Ron about him … But she hadn't meant that, and he certainly sounded like he had meant _that _…

"Hermione?"

Hermione started. She looked round and two heads were peering around the banister, all four eyes full of concern. She automatically forced a smile onto her face and put on an attempted cheery tone, although her eyes had begun to sting; "What have you two been up to, eh?"

Ginny and Dean came down the stairs, looking relieved that she seemed perfectly happy, and also looking slightly mischevious. Dean hastily cleared his throat gruffly, and suggested that they went back outside. As they passed Hermione, Ginny gave her a wink and whispered, "Can't wait 'til later! Its gonna be _so _cute!"

Bewildered, Hermione watched them out of sight and then decided to follow them outside as she remembered what she was about to do and why she had not done it.

When she got outside, she approached Harry and Ron, longing for a bit of comforting sanity and proper conversation. However, if she was expecting this, she was quite mistaken; when she greeted them and asked them what they were talking about, Ron went very green and muttered "nothing" in a very unconvincing, strangled sort of voice.

Hermione shot Harry a quizzical look and said, "What is it? Come on, you can tell me anything!"

Ron just starting fiddling with the label on his Butterbeer bottle while Harry bit his lip, looking rather uncomfortable and nodded meaningfully towards Ron, looking apologetic.

With that, Hermione got up, feeling even worse than she had done before; they were obviously discussing some secret of Ron's that he didn't want Hermione to hear. What about them all being best friends together? Surely they shared all of their secrets? Hermione now felt very lonely, despite being within a crowd of people. She looked around; Percy and his father were having a very heated discussion about what looked like work as Percy looked simply alight with excitement and his chest was pushed upwards, pompously and importantly; Mrs Weasley was fussing over several fresh-looking burns Charlie had acquired over the summer and insisted on dabbing them with a thick blue fluid she was holding while he patiently told her that they would heal if left alone; George and Verity were standing by the rose bush, George slowly stroking her arm and nodding sympathetically while she talked to him in a very whimpery, weak sort of voice; Ron and Harry were deep in conversation once more, looking very serious indeed and Ron looking greener than before (Perhaps he hadn't taken his potion? Hermione thought); she finally looked at Ginny and Dean who were wrapped around each other in a far corner – Ginny had her chin propped on Dean's shoulder so she was facing Hermione, and having seen her glance at Ron a few seconds ago, Ginny gave her another very big wink before nuzzling Dean's neck.

After finishing her second bottle of Butterbeer, Hermione returned to the kitchen for a third. Thinking hopelessly that no-one seemed to even care she was there, she sat alone in the kitchen and glugged her way through another two bottles while she could hear everyone laughing and chattering outside.

She was convinced that things would perk up as soon as Harry got here, so it would be just like it is at Hogwarts, but instead of the three of them having fun like usual, the two of them had just sat all evening looking like they're discussing how Voldemort could be lurking somewhere in the garden, ready to pounce any second – and even if they _were _talking about that, why couldn't she be included?

At that moment, Hermione heard a thump and a whimper that came from overhead; she walked up the hall, turned around the banister to look up the stairs, and there, sprawled all over them was Verity, underneath what looked like a horribly familiar lanky, ginger Weasley twin. Repulsed, Hermione kicked her way past them, ran up the stairs, stumbling several times along the way, and slammed herself shut in the bathroom. She slumped on the floor and sobbed.

As if things couldn't get any worse – there was always the hope that they wouldn't make up, but after Fred's speech, it seemed pretty evident that they would. She never thought she would think this because she loved staying with the Weasleys so much, but this time she had had enough. She was going home. She wiped her eyes and nose on a bit of toilet roll and heaved herself up with some difficulty, and staggered rather ungracefully out of the bathroom and carefully down the now-empty stairs, forgetting about all of her things in Ginny's room.

She made her way to the kitchen, heading for the fireplace to floo back home, when suddenly someone stepped out in front of her and grabbed her shoulders hard.

"Owwerr …" she slurred, and looked up into Fred Weasley's eyes. Although they seemed more grey than she had ever seen them, she knew those eyes anywhere.

"Hermione, I need to talk to you." He looked like he did earlier – pale and nervous, yet a spark of determination seemed to have ignited inside him, making him slightly more confident. "There's something I haven't told you that you probably should know –"

"I know abow Vehhty," Hermione replied – her words didn't seem to be coming out whole anymore. "Why arn you still ow on the stairs kissiner?"

"Verity's here?" Fred looked surprised.

"Wha? Don' you try an trick me, Wed Freasley …"

Not a second later, the back door burst open and Ron came marching through it, looking incredibly nauseous but he stood up straight and seemed to have the same spark of determination as Fred.

"Herm-mione?" He stuttered before anyone else could stop him. "Will you g-go out w-with me?"

Hermione was stunned. She let out a loud hiccough, but wasn't too drunk to understand what Ron had just asked her. Harry appeared in the doorway right behind Ron, grinning from ear to ear, accompanied by Ginny and Dean, who both gave her the thumbs-up and winked. She was so immensely relieved at the realisation that Ron and Harry were only ignoring her for that reason, and that Ginny was being so weird with her for that reason, and so hurt by Fred's unexplained ignorance towards her and betrayal of her trust that she turned to an extremely sweaty-looking Ron and said, "Yes".

Ron seized her and hugged her like she had never been hugged before. She thought he'd squeeze her into a pulp, but when he released her, she found herself still solid and standing. She looked over Ron's shoulder at Fred defiantly. His face was stone-hard and his eyes looked strangely bloodshot.

Ron followed her gaze and he turned to look at Fred too. "Me and Hermione!" He exclaimed weakly. "What's the matter?"

"Oh .." Comprehension suddenly dawned on Ginny's face and her grin vanished. "Did you see George and Verity kissing?"

"Wha-?" Hermione began. She looked back at Fred. His stare was painful.


	15. Chapter 15

**Sorry its been so long, but without further ado ...**

Chapter 14

Fred continued to stare unblinkingly at Hermione. His gaze looked incredulous, accusing and unbelieving.

Ron looked at Fred, then back at Hermione, looking extremely puzzled, before laughing awkwardly and saying, "Err Fred, she hasn't just killed somebody you know …"

The pair of them still staring at each other defiantly, acted as if Ron hadn't said anything, and noticing this, Ron raised his voice slightly, losing the air of a euphoric, dazed stupor he had had a minute ago, and said, "What's the problem Fred?"

Fred broke the beam of painful understanding he had been sharing with Hermione for the past 30 seconds and turned to make for the door without another word.

"Oi, I asked you something." Ron persisted in a loud voice.

Fred simply let out an inaudible mumble to this and seized the brass doorknob of the heavy kitchen door.

"What was that?"

Fred paused and turned to look at Ron. Hermione felt a pang of alarm as she saw the look in Fred's eyes. It was as cold as ice.

"_What?_" Fred hissed.

"Look, what's the matter with you? Why are you so tetchy all of a sudden –"

"I'm _not _…" Fred turned again in a jerky-fashion to depart but Ron grabbed his shoulder before he could do so.

"Yes you are, why do you keep looking at Hermione as if she's just –"

"I'm not!" Fred replied through clenched teeth and attempted to wrench himself out of Ron's firm grasp, but it turned out to be too firm for him to easily break free of. "Ron, get _off _me …"

"Look," Said Ron, sounding equally annoyed now, " I'm sorry that George got one better on you with that Verity, but there's no need to –" Ron never got a chance to finish his sentence, because quick as a flash, Fred had drew back his fist and smacked Ron with all his might, in true Beater-style, right in the mouth.

Ginny yelped and Harry yelled in protest, but it didn't stop there; without a care of where his fist was flying, Fred threw another punch right in Ron's stomach, and then another in his side. Ron howled, clutching his jaw, and managed to stamp on Fred's feet and kick him in the shins as Fred's face grew steadily redder and Ron's wails grew progressively louder.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU MANIAC?" Ron bellowed, as he made to grab one of Fred's soaring fists as it rapidly approached his face. Although Ron was a lot bigger, Fred was much tougher and surlier and so Ron was soon cowering with pain while Fred, still full of rhinoceros-like energy, seemed to have steam issuing from each nostril as he surged on with the air of wanting to do as much damage to his victim as possible andas quickly as possible.

Ginny had ran the full length of the room, vaulted over a chair that had been upturned in the last 10 seconds and leapt on to the pair of them, trying to break up the fight while one of Ron's large sweaty hands clawed at Fred's face and Fred twisted Ron's other arm brutally behind his back. "DEAN! HARRY!" She shrieked as her interference seemed to be spurring them on even more.

Harry and Dean sped over and seized Ron and Fred; with these additions to the brawl the scene looked, to the only remaining onlooker that was now a stunned and horrified Hermione, like a gigantic cloud of dust and dangerously flailing limbs.

Hermione shook herself out of her reverie at once; the roars and screams and snarls were getting increasingly louder, and seeing as she was the reason for it all, she had to stop it now -

"AAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!"

There were several dull thuds, and a groan, and then five red, sweaty faces turned to look at Hermione, each looking alarmed. Harry had a bloody nose and was leaning on only one foot, Ginny had a large gash on he left cheek and her lip was bleeding, Dean had a black eye and a bloody nose. Ron and Fred looked as though they'd just been chucked across the room 50 times by a mountain troll, while being beaten by its club at the same time.

"Finally …" Hermione found her voice surprisingly shaky. "I just wanted you to stop! What's the _matter_ with you two?"

"I was only defending you Hermione!" Ron shouted indignantly, shaking himself out of Harry's grip and shooting Fred a look of deepest loathing.

"I wasn't doing anything to her you stupid, stuck up, lanky little –"

"Shut your face! You were looking at her like she was a piece of dung!"

"I was NOT!" Fred balled his fists again and started trembling angrily.

"Yeah you were! I dunno what's got in to you lately '_mate'_, but you've been acting like a jumped up little snot-nosed git –"

Before anyone could stop him, Fred had thrown another punch at Ron and they grabbed each other round the necks, all four fists bearing scarily white knuckles, both faces getting steadily purpler by the second.

"STOP IT!" Ginny screamed and she forced them both apart with the help of Hermione.

"WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU BOTH?"

"ME? IT'S HIM THAT'S THE LUNATIC!" Roared Ron, rolling up his sleeves, ready to pounce once more. "HE'S STARTING ON MY GIRLFRIEND!"

"NO I'M NOT! I WOULDN'T EVER -"

"THEN WHAT THE BLOODY HELL'S YOUR PROBLEM?" Ron was shaking with rage now, approaching his older brother menacingly, spitting out blood from his wounded mouth after every other word.

"YOU WANNA KNOW?"

"YEAH!"

"REALLY? 'CAUSE I DUNNO IF PERFECT LITTLE RONNIE-PREFECT-PANTIES CAN TAKE IT!"

"TRY ME YOU PATHETIC, GOOD-FOR-NOTHING, NASTY PIECE OF STINKING, SLIMY –"

"I'M IN LOVE WITH HER!"

**A/N: Well there you have it! Please review so I know what all you luvlies think and what you reckon should happen next!**


	16. Another Author's Note!

**Hi everyone, sorry I haven't updated in ages but I've just started A-levels and they are seriously hard so please have mercy! I will try and get another chapter up as soon as I can 'cause I really miss this story. Thanks for staying loyal! x**


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 15

Silence reigned as thick as custard. Even the clock seemed to have stopped ticking. No-one dared move, speak, blink, or look round at anyone other than Fred. He was looking at her, the girl he had just declared his love to. He had been dying to say those three words for far too long, yet no evidence of relief and undying affection illuminated his fallen features; all that lingered in his unreadable expression were the pains of desperation, guilt and immense sadness. Even his skin had grayed and his eyes lost their wondrous sparkle that made Hermione's stomach leap every time she caught it flash in her direction.

Her own eyes were frozen into his – the bond was as stiff as steel, they refused to be wrenched away. The seconds dragged on like years. He loved her. He had actually said it. He had shouted it! The possibility of that elevating moment had been pulsing through her, spurring her on, constantly igniting her motivation all night – the hope of him feeling the same way as her. And it had happened, yet as the icy seconds fell away, she had never felt so unloved in all her life.

Her eyes were starting to hurt now – his eyes were burning into her own. So many times when she had looked into Fred's eyes had she seen his magnificent fiery spirit, his luminous striking character and his beautiful entrancing soul. Now all that existed in them was her own reflection, and she hated it. Nothing else entered her vision; the surrounding people and objects were blurred, uninvolved, non-existent, outsiders looking in. She didn't care about anything else. Fred was all. Everything. The thing at the end of the tunnel. She loved him. He said he loved her. That's it. All. Everything. She was so sorry she felt like screaming it.

"CRACK!"

"No!"

Hermione cried; she leapt forward, threw her arms out and grasped at thin air, and collapsed onto the cold hard stone floor from where Fred had just vanished. Her head was thrown back as she fell, and pain like nothing she had ever before experienced surged through her heart, her mind and her senses, yet her body was completely numb. She could hear loud panicked voices above her. She was vaguely aware of being tugged by several pairs of scrabbling hands. Her heart was beating in her throat. Gradually taking over her vision was a blanket of sickening purply-blackness. The floor was cold on her cheek. Fred was gone.

**A/N: Hi everyone! Oh my gooosh it's been so long! I am really sorry for being away from this story for so long because I love it and couldn't bear to leave the cliff-hanger any longer. I hope you canforgive myawful absence and enjoy! Lots of lovexxP.S Pleeease review! What d'you thinkshould happen next?**


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